


Red Garden

by ShimadaGenji



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Blood, Graphic Description of Corpses, Other, aftermath of jhin’s murder, its kinda gross and traumatizing for them, shen and zed are still super young
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 05:47:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20869172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShimadaGenji/pseuds/ShimadaGenji
Summary: Kusho finally answers the call to hunt this so called Golden Demon, and he takes his two brigthest students with him. It’s the start of a nightmare





	Red Garden

**Author's Note:**

> So i wrote this like.. over an year ago? Something like that, it’s been sitting on my docs so i decided to just post it. It was going to be part of a much bigger fic but THAT’s not happening now that I’m waiting on that sweet Zed comic. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

The skies were particularly grey that morning, announcing the incoming storm. An ugly day. Zed trailed behind his master, eyes always forward, lost in thought but still very aware. Shen trailed besides him, his energy rubbing off on Zed: excitement, anxiety. They had been traveling for a few hours now, having left the Kinkou temple before the sun rose. Zed was certain Kusho had refused any involvement in the chase of the so called Golden Demon, yet, for an unknown reason, his master had changed his mind, giving the younger pair the order to tag along and a few supplies. But if that’s what his master wished, that’s what they would do.

  
  


The few words Kusho had told them at the temple were short on details. The only thing Zed knew was that there had been a murder in a village close and that they would be investigating it. The crime scene would still be fresh enough that maybe they would be able to catch a trail, follow a lead that no one had been able to so far. Kusho seemed to want to work on a low profile as well, providing them with civilians and not even sending a message to the council before his departure.

Their current destination was the Hall of Kailen, a small building used mostly for art expositions. Zed had only heard about the Golden Demon’s murders. Cruel, grotesque, indescribable, unforgettable. But it was also unpredictable and untraceable, which is why it was never caught. No human could do such unspeakable atrocities, and so the council had pleaded the Kinkou for help.

“You are overthinking again.” Zed half jumped in place, being caught off guard by Shen, who now was much closer to him than he thought. Looking around he noticed they already had entered the village, the small buildings sprouting from the earth around them. Perhaps he wasn’t  _ that _ aware after all.

“Nonsense” He swatted at Shen, who dodged, a smile stamped on his face, definitely proud of himself. “Just thinking for the both of us, since you have that empty head of yours”

“You say that, yet you were the one about to walk into a wall had I not intervened. If I am the empty headed, what would that make of you?”

Zed stuck his hand to Shen’s face, pushing his grin away. A warm chuckle escaping him. 

The boys slowed their pace as they reached the hall. Kusho marched ahead, head held high, as he approached the men guarding the entrance. He presented himself and the men bowed respectfully, recognizing his status. 

Kusho signed for his students to step forward, and so they did.

“These are my brightest students. We shall do whatever we can to restore the balance swayed by this creature.”

“Master Kusho, I.” The man hesitated eyes shifting between master Kusho and his two young students. “ Forgive me, but… Are you certain that is wise? They are…” He glanced at them again, and Zed stared back until the man could no longer hold his gaze. With Shen having turned 16 only a few weeks ago and Zed probably not far away from it, being underestimated was not an uncommon occurrence to them. But this time, Zed could pick something else other than disdain or pity. Something Zed couldn’t exactly pin down.

“As I’ve mentioned, they are my brightest students. Bringing them along is crucial to this investigation” Kusho explained.

“O-of course” the man shook his head. “My deepest apologies, master Kusho. I-I just-” The man said, a glassy stare turned to no one in particular. “I pray that this might be over soon and the beast behind it destroyed” 

“We will be the judges of its fate.” Kusho responded.

The man could only nod, as he walked them to the entrance, stepping through a few small, wild red flowers that sprouted from the passageway. He pushed aside the doors, making passage for the trio to walk in.

“Witnesses said the victim walked in seeking help before collapsing.”

The hall was large for the tiny village it was situated in. The white trees that composed the structure would twist and turn around itself creating the most intricate shapes, it was a delicate dance that formed the hexagonal shape of the building. Art pieces decorated the walls and small stands. Some of the stands had tumbled down, broken craftsmanship spilled on the floor and the desk at the entranced seemed to be had been pushed aside by someone or some people fleeing the place. But these were only secondary details. As Zed walked in, the first thing to hit him was the strong smell of iron that assaulted his nostrils, making him shudder, and alongside it a strange, cold sensation of magic in the air. But most curiously, dozens of red butterflies danced around the hall, shining as they flapped their delicate wings around. Magic. The small swarm overlooked a garden. Starting from the door, to the middle of the hall, flowers and grass had grown to the height of Zed’s knees. It clashed oddily with the interior design, seeming to had inspontaniously grown out of the stone floor. 

Red grass, red petals, the garden moved softly to the breeze as the butterflies occasionally landed on them to feed.Kusho was the first to move ahead, stepping through the garden towards its center. Zed followed after obediently, and then, Shen. 

The further he walked into the garden, the stronger the smell grew, his stomach tying into knots, a bad feeling settling in his guts, the ground feeling strangely sticky under his feet. He dragged his hands through the plants softly, stopping his walk, closing his eyes for a second and taking a deep breath to relax his muscles. Letting go of his worries, focusing on the moisture the petals left on his fingers as he touched them. Focus on the task at hand, let go of his feelings.

And as he opened his eyes, a butterfly appeared mere inches from his face. He waved his hand gently to scare it away but stopped. His fingers were now stained in red. He pinched a petal away and, sure enough, the strange thing dyed his hands in dark red. Shen’s steps echoing a squelching noise as he approached Zed.

Kusho had stopped as well, only a few steps ahead of Zed, eyes stuck to the floor ahead of him, the butterflies flying in between and around them.

“And where exactly is the body?” Shen mumbled.

Kusho glanced back at his students, an unreadable expression on his face.

“We have been on it already for some time now.”

Confused, Zed stepped forward, feet making that hellish noise as well. With a hand, he pushed away a few of the flowers that covered a figure on the ground.

At the center of the garden laid a woman,the demon’s victim he guessed, for her entire body was completely covered in blood, face frozen in a scream. Her stomach laid cut open, her guts exposed. From them, dozens of red maggots squirmed, rapidly turning into red butterflies that would fly away gracefully, feeding off the flowers around them only to return to the carcass to finally die and become food to the growing swarm in her.

Her blood and intestines spilled from her, flooding the floor, and from them, several red plants grew. A grotesque cycle. A red garden.

Zed covered his mouth with his hand, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by nausea. He shuddered feeling his face becoming wet where he touched, remembering the blood that stained his hands, feeling the smell,  _ the taste _ and turning to wipe them on his pants on a vain attempt only to realize blood had stained them all the way to the knees while he walked through whatever  _ that _ was. He felt faint. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm himself only to breath a lungful of putrid iron filled air, stinging his eyes.

It was terrifying.

“Father?” Shen managed out, staring at his Kusho in horror.

“Zed, would you take Shen for some air?” Kusho said, voice as impassive as it had always been. “You may return later.”

Zed nodded, afraid of saying anything at all and having the awful taste of that place stick to his throat any more than it already had. He turned around, grabbing Shen by the arm and dragging him along towards the entrance. Shen was too slow, not moving in time with Zed, who had started a shaky walk away from there. Shen slipped, a gasp caught in his throat, and had it not been Zed’s tight grip on his arm, Shen would have landed face first on… Zed continued walking, dragging him back to his feet.

“I’m sorry.” Shen whimpered, stumbling into a sturdy pace. 

He marched ahead, holding Shen’s arm more gently now that they crossed the entrance again, the air no longer carrying the smell of iron, but the smell of earth as rain approached. Zed kept walking, past the guards, past the houses, not once sparing a look back.

Shen apologized profusely through all the way.

  
  


“Zed.” Zed snapped his head towards Shen, finally acknowledging the boy standing beside him. He blinked, lost. Where were they? He looked down at the small stream that ran near his feet.

Zed dropped to his knees, startling Shen. He stuck his hands on the stream, rubbing the blood off his hands, splashing water on his face and scrubbing it as well. The smell was still there, his knees still stained red, he leaned forward, using his arm to catch his balance. He dry heaved for a second, coughing and taking a minute to breathe.

At one point Shen had kneeled beside him and rubbed circles on his back. He couldn’t tell when. 

“Zed?” He asked, tentatively.

Zed nodded slightly.

“I’m good… I’m good.” He took a deep, shaky breath, the smell of blood mingling with the smell of wet earth.

And they sat there, until the rain finally came, and they knew they had to come back.

An ugly fucking day indeed.


End file.
